Porsche engines have found their way into a number of interesting one-offs and prototypes over the years, perhaps enough to fill an entire book. Should that ever happen, then certainly a few paragraphs must be dedicated to the Fletcher Flair, which made an appearance at the recent Glenmoor Gathering to take part in the show’s class of Porsche prototypes.

The story of the Flair starts with Fletcher Aviation, which was founded in 1941 in Pasadena by the three Fletcher brothers: Wendell, Frank and Maurice. They initially formed the company to build a basic trainer aircraft for the U.S. Army, and in 1953 Fletcher Aviation tried again to secure a government contract, this time with an amphibious Jeep. According to Crismon, the Army at that time was looking for amphibious Jeeps partly to fulfill a requirement that all of its trucks should have some amphibious capabilities, and partly because the World War II-era Ford GPA was long in the tooth and largely unavailable.

Wendell Fletcher, an admirer of Porsche innovation and mechanicals, thus decided to build an amphibious Jeep around an air-cooled Porsche 356 four-cylinder engine, bolting the Porsche drivetrain and suspension to the aluminum tub. He made it light enough (1,475 or 1,490 pounds, depending on your source) to be transported by air and added a special transfer case and front differential to make it four-wheel drive. To make it swim, he adapted the jet-cooling principles of aircraft engineer Otto Koppen (one of the men responsible for the Ford Trimotor and the Ford Flivver), which Fletcher Aviation already had applied to its FD-25 Defender. The system doesn’t appear to have worked well at all as a propulsion device, which is likely why many references to the Flair note that the simple turning of its wheels propelled it in the water.

Fletcher debuted the Flair over Labor Day weekend 1953 at the National Aircraft Show in Dayton, Ohio, and submitted it to the Army for testing. According to Crismon, it performed well: Watertight and stable in the water, it would top out at 2.2 MPH in the water and 68 MPH on land, carrying up to 800 pounds of cargo (or 1,800 pounds, depending on your source). Yet the Army ultimately passed on the Flair, which it was evaluating at generally the same time as the American Motors XM531 Muskrat and the Willys XM433E1.

The Flair then presumably returned to Fletcher, which briefly changed its name to Flair Aviation in the early 1960s and then quit the aircraft manufacturing business in 1966. Some references note that Fletcher may have considered marketing the Flair overseas as an agricultural vehicle, but those plans didn’t come to fruition. At some point in its history, the Porsche engine was swapped out in favor of a Volkswagen engine (presumably to make it more attractive to overseas markets?), and then about 10 years ago it was left to sit outside the shop at GK Restorations, a Porsche restorer in Tallahassee, Florida. GK recently dusted it off and has started returning it to its original configuration. They’ve also uploaded a few videos of the Flair to YouTube, showing its various components:

thanks so much for the article. If anyone would like more information about the Fletcher, please feel free to contact me: Margaret Warren at GK Restorations; margaret@gkrestorations.com, or call (850) 926-5722. I have a few minor corrections. The Fletcher was at our shop for a long time after Gary Kempton purchased it directly from the Fletcher estate during their estate auction after Mr. Fletcher himself passed away. It was not stored outside though, it was always under cover and protected from rain and the elements. When Gary received it, it already had the VW engine in it – presumably because some of the original engine was in the process of some re-design and they just wanted to be able to drive it around. Currently, the Fletcher has been cleaned up quite a bit since the videos were taken. The original Fletcher-Porsche engine has been mocked up and installed in the vehicle but it is not running.

Thanks so much for writing about the Fletcher – it’s truly a unique part of military and Porsche history.

Fletcher Aviation had built (1950 ) a 6 Passenger Flair, rear wheel drive only, amphibious vehicle prior to the 4 wheel drive, 4 place unit. All aluminum, air craft style construction, Halibrand Kidney bean style wheels. Mr Fletcher’s designs were way ahead of the time. Designed to bolt together and push across a river, allowing troops a temporary footbridge or even removing the cowl area and adding planking to accept motorized traffic. I’m not sure a small aircraft manufacturer had the political clout to obtain such a large military contract competing against the much larger and well known corporations of the day. It was my privilege to have known Mr. Fletcher.

I worked for Fletcher Aviation in the expairamental engineering department from 1950 to 1955, and participated in the design and testing of the Flair. I still posses a lot of origional development and construction photos and data, including a brochure on the Flair.

In 1950, Wendal Fletcher, President, wanted to go into the automotive business, so he went to Europe and bought over 50 vehicles and shipped them to our experimental shop at the Fletcher plant for testing. We (Fletcher) ended up buying the manufacturing rights for the Porsche engine to use in our new car. However, he had a hard time getting investors to put there money into the venture for a car with a small 4 cylender air cooled engine. He then decided to enter a Fletcher/Porsche into the 5 day Pan Am Road Race the length of Mexico (I have more photos) to prove it’s capability. I was part of that team. We did well, but still had a tough time with investors. Then came the idea for the Flair to get the government to pay the cost of tooling to mass produce the Porsche engine. At Aburdean Proving Grounds, we ran circles around the compition, including Jeep Mighty Mite. But the government didn’t buy it. End of the Flair.

Hi Ted,
My father, Burton Shannon, went to Germany with Wendell in 1950 and purchased the two 550 Spyders and the Flair jeep drivetrains. I have photo books and the whole archive on the building and testing of the jeep.

I had heard of FLETCHER AVIATON at the time as I restored my PIPER observation bird to like new . I didn,t know they did this neat looking vehicle though.NO ONE without the ins of FORD , GM , and CHRYSLER has stood a chance in the marketplace for too long .This is another example of POSSIBLY a good vehicle being created and shot down because of the ” BIG 3,s ” power in politics and the MARKETPLACE .Who was it that said ,”If it,s good for G.M. it,s good for the country “! This vehicle proves that there are still those in this great country of ours that had and still have vision . I wouldn,t mind owning one (if I could afford it) just so when the whim hit me I could go down to the lake and NOT stop at the launch ramp !!

Fletcher Aircraft also built a one off prototype “Flair 108″ engine as a replacement for the VW engine for this vehicle. It had a square boxed up case, dual carburation, was configured as a four cylinder opposed boxer, and was also aircooled.

The Flair Vehicle also had a canvas folding top similar to the type used on the VW Typ 181 “Thing”.

A VW Schwimwagen would be my preferred mode of transport on the water. As a matter of fact one guy drove a slightly modified,stock VW across the Straits of Messina from Sicily to mainland Italy in the mid 60s. When people didn’t believe him-he drove it across again! He mounted a propeller out the rear apron and raised the air intake and exhaust to exit up by the rear window. try that with any other car!

I don’t know if it’s just me, but the videos of the Flair has the new owners speaking, and they sound about as mechanically inclined as a bunch of brick layers. You can see the reduction boxes on the rear axles that Flair built, not stock VW stuff. The straight pipes (?) going straight up, through the engine cover. That must have been great for making noise. Also, the big hole in the pan to get to the oil drain plug. And adjusting the valves must have been a real PIA. Why do dummies always get ahold of neat stuff like this? Bet it just sits outside and rots away for the next decade. Sad.

My father, Burton Shannon and my mom went to Germany in 1952 with Wendell Fletcher and his wife. They purchased the drivetrains for the Flair jeeps and the two Pan America Mexico 550 Spyders. I have all of the Fletcher factory photos and info on how that Jeep was built and tested.
I have been waiting to share my archive with whomever owns the car. Let me know.
Thanks,
Daniel R. Shannon